A Transit Unplugged Special: Looking back at 2024 and ahead to 2025

This is Transit Unplugged. I'm Paul Comfort. Great to have you with us on another episode of the world's leading transit executive podcast. Today we're going to try something a little different.

Instead of me interviewing a CEO, my good friend and colleague, Julie Gates, who is our executive producer here at Transit Unplugged and the head of the Modaxo Media Group and a former FM DJ herself is going to join us and interview me about what's happening in the industry, where we think we're going, and some of the highlights over the past year. Julie, thanks for being part of the show today. Yeah, it's an honor. I have been behind the scenes for many years.

Transit Unplugged is near and dear to my heart. It's been fun to watch us grow it and become a TV show. And now we've added the News Minute. So just creating more and more ways for our community to connect and know what's going on in the industry. And also you just returned from Washington, DC. So you have some pretty good insight on what's going on with the new Administration that'll be coming in in January and how our communities can get funding.

And what's going to happen with all these projects that are in the works. So you ready to dig in? Let's do it.

What's the one lesson, the best lesson you learned from losing when you ran for public office? Yeah, out of it, right? If you run a good, clean campaign, you put your heart into it. Julie, every great job I've gotten is because I met a guy, and many of those times it happened while on the campaign trail.

My very first job, um, and, um, Up until, you know, recent jobs, when I was head of the MTA, you know, that happened largely because I ran for county commissioner in my home county, and Larry Hogan ran for governor, we both ran at the same time, we knew each other pretty well, and we both won, and, uh, but, you know, working together on the campaign trail, him coming over, speaking at my first fundraiser, me going and being on the campaign trail with him, shortly after

that, he said, Paul, you know, We've been talking about you, you're an attorney, you've run government organizations, and you've spent 25 years in transit. We think you're the perfect guy to run the Maryland Transit Administration. So, uh, I would say that it's a good life lesson for all of us, right? When you feel that you are called to do something, And you feel like you're prepared for it and ready, then I would say go for it.

That's what my whole theme about living full throttle is, is don't let the fears hold you back. What if this? What if that? Because once we get in the maze of life, you can't always see what's all the way, where you're gonna go. You can only see to the end of the line you're in. And then when you get to the end of the line, win or lose, usually something else opens up for you. And so you gotta be willing to adapt and adjust. I would say you're the most fearless person I know.

You always have big ideas and then you just go do it. I don't ever see you having the analysis paralysis that I see in a lot of other places. So that's what makes working at Transit Unplugged so fun.

So let's shift into transit, right? We're here at the end of the year. Looking back, it's been an exciting year for the shows, TV show, podcast, news minute, All the events and conferences you've attended. What have been a highlight or two for you for 2024? Yeah, I think, uh, for me, So, one of the highlights is the fact that we won three great awards this year, uh, with our, um, and you've got one behind you on the, on the wall there, I see, got a couple of them.

Yeah, our, for our Rocky Mountaineer episode of Transit Unplugged TV. The other big The biggest win for me this year with our TV show, which I spend 30 to 40 percent of my time on now, is the fact that, um, our viewership has gone through the roof. I mean, when we started the show three years ago, we were having under 500 viewers each episode. And the first couple episodes, my friends in Nashville and Vegas, the CEOs there, uh, MJ, uh, and Steve, They were like, you know, we'll help you out.

You know, we'll have our IT director film you with his cellphone so we started out there and, and it's grown to be a professional production. And, you know, we're having 150, 160, 000 views per episode. And then to see it expand now onto MSN and onto the transportation channel. And I think more, more good news. We'll have announcements in the new year about distribution channels. So that's been a big one.

The other personal kind of, uh, Win for me this year was, I think you know, I've written a book a year since I retired from the MTA.

I left them, uh, seven years ago, and I'm working on my seventh book now, and Julie, I wanted to have, there was a book agent that had been talked to me about, her name was Nina Madonia, and she is one of the top non fiction, um, book agents in the country, and, uh, I had lots of conversations with her five years ago for my book, The Future of Public Transportation, but she declined to represent me because she felt like my, uh, my area of transportation was too

niche, and she'd done, you know, 150 New York Times bestsellers, movie rights, etc. So then you and I were talking about my next book, and you said, Paul, there's a great book agent I know in Dallas, Texas that mine. was, uh, Yeah, that was my agent that I was going to do a book with and her name was, drum roll, Nina Nina Medonja. And so, since then, you know, she has picked me up for my next book and You're welcome.

me, she's helping me, yeah, rewrite the whole thing from a leadership book, was going to be 21 Lessons to Lead Full Throttle and now we're going to change it probably to the X Spot which is, um, you know, how to live life, how to find your X Spot so that you can live life full throttle, something like that. And so, I'm super excited about that. It's going to be a general market. Personal development book. And so that's been for me personally, a big win. And you're a big part of that.

So thank Oh, you're so welcome. I think we both feel very honored that we get to do this work every day because it's all about the transit. I know the leadership book is going to help even a broader audience, but in general, being able to do Transit Unplugged is helping our industry.

My favorite part about the work we get to do every single day is when you see most news coverage about what's going on in our industry, which is such an amazing industry, and I've never met a more humble group of people than the leaders and the employees who work in our industry. The news stories tend to be train derailments or accidents or crime stories.

And so what's fun for us is we get to go in and get into the agencies and interview the CEOs and their teams and tell all the good things that are going on, because we really do mobilize our communities. tell So it's such an honor, isn't it? That we get to do this work every day. It is. I I'm, I'm a people person. So I love the connections. Let's shift into transit and some big stories.

You who were recently in Washington D. C., lots of meetings taking place for transition teams trying to get this new Administration ready to hit the ground running in January. Um, there's a lot of concern in the transit industry because the previous or the current administration flooded a lot of funding for a lot of projects for us. So share a little bit about what you're seeing and hearing. Yeah, it's a good question.

Yeah, I was in Washington, D. C., uh, just recently at the WTS, uh, Women Transportation Seminar Holiday Party. One of the great things I get to do on the side is I'm Executive Director of a group called the North American Transit Alliance, which represents six of the largest public transportation contractors in the country. And, um, so we give a scholarship, uh, both to Latinos in Transit. and WTS as well as COMTO.

And, um, representing them there, I was able to mingle with a lot of what I call the glitterati, right? The Washington, D. C. glitterati. I talked to three former FTA administrators, uh, and pretty much almost every other day since then, I've been talking to people.

You know, uh, Mr. Congressman Duffy, who's coming in to be the Secretary of Department of Transportation, uh, there's not a lot known about his position on transit from the people I talk to, and so I've been trying to make sure my voice gets heard and that this is a valuable asset, and we don't want to have our funding cut, although the new administration's made pretty clear, I think, that they are going to move away from, uh, you know, what's been called the Green New Deal and move

more toward, uh, you know, the theme that the, that the new President elect has been talking about is drill, baby, drill. So that's more fossil fuels. A lot of our transit agencies from Fort Worth, Texas to Kansas City to, you know, places in Canada use, uh, CNG, compressed natural gas.

Um, and, uh, other agencies are working on biodiesel, uh, in western Canada, etc. And so, I think from Washington, D. C., It looks as if there's going to be a reduction or elimination of funding for battery electric buses. There may still be a push toward hydrogen fuel and the seven hydrogen hubs, uh, but I think we can definitely kind of read the tea leaves that we're going to be moving away from the federal funding.

Now the issue with that is, that a lot of transit agencies are under mandates from their state or local governments or even their board of directors to move toward net zero or zero emission buses. And so, how are they going to pay for them if they don't come from Washington? So that's an issue that our industry is going to grapple with. I think there'll also be a re look at the, you know, California High Speed Rail Project.

I've heard that through numerous sources that that's going to be kind of on, um, the new committee that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramseway are heading up, uh, called DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency. They're looking for what they consider wasteful spending, and I've just read this week that that's near the top of their list.

So, I think there'll be an evaluation of a lot of the projects that, uh, the current Administration, the Biden Administration, uh, put into place, and if there is a possibility to pull some of them back, I think we'll see that, um, and I think it's going to be incumbent on transit agencies to do what APTA has done, which is to reach out to the Administration, to let them know we want to work hand in hand, and we want to see transit and, and show the value of transit to a community.

Transit can provide, you know, I'm a transit evangelist, and I believe, you It is, um, it's a silver bullet to use an old, you know, Lone Ranger style answer, right? It is the, it is the solution to so many issues that our society faces, including economic development, right? When I used to run the MTA, uh, in Baltimore, we evaluated our new routes based on access to jobs. The new routes, we wanted to make sure it had 30, ended up being like access to 35 percent more jobs, right?

And we had a light rail system that went out to the airport, to BWI airport, where we could take the employees there and passengers, uh, transit does so many things, and now, in this new kind of post COVID world, has become critical to so many new areas, even our commuter rail services have changed, for instance, Dave Dech in South Florida has changed, they're not so much a commuter rail anymore, it's a regional rail, where they're doing midday service, night service,

weekend service, getting people into ballgames and nightlife and the museums. So transit is becoming more and more part of our daily life and that's really the message I think that we need to communicate to the new Administration and to work hand in glove with them because this is who we are working with for the next four years at the federal level. So if I'm reading between the lines, Paul, are you saying that each one of us needs to do more advocacy work in general? APTA leads the way.

We're very appreciative. CUTA leads the way. But in the U. S. with the new Administration rolling in, um, we can't just expect APTA to do all the heavy lifting, right? I think we all need to advocate with every elected official about the importance of the projects we're working on. Yeah, I think it's important for people to, um, engage with their Congressmen and Senators, and I think they do that pretty well. Our industry does. We have good lines.

Everyone I know, you know, from Frank, uh, White III in Kansas City to, you know, other folks all over the country, they are very well connected to the Congressional delegation. But I think it's also incumbent on us to not come in to a new Administration, which maybe some people didn't vote for, and say, I'm not going to engage. No, we need to engage. We need to engage and be advocates and be transit evangelists and show the value, uh, because we do, uh.

play an important role in every community and not just urban communities like Scott Bogren from CTAA would tell you, you know, for tribal transit and for rural transit, it's a lifeline. I used to run the county ride service here in a county of 50, 000 people and it, it was and still is a lifeline to so many folks to get to shopping, to get to doctors, and so we need to tell the full story of how public transportation benefits the voters and the citizens and the residents of this country.

As we look back on this year and look forward to the next year, You have locked into the three Fs as something our industry should look at. Will you highlight that quickly? Yeah, I was standing on the beach in Brisbane a couple weeks ago, Jealous. I was preparing to speak to a group of people that afternoon, and I wanted to come up with a good snappy, you know, um, summary of what the trends were, and this is what I came up with, which is, uh, fueling funding and faring, right?

So fueling, we've already talked about with the new Administration that doesn't appear to be in favor of battery electric fuel, and it doesn't look like they'll be funding much when it comes to that. Um, what are we going to do with fueling?

We need to grapple with that and figure that out as an industry, and I think the old adage, if you've seen one transit agency, you've seen one transit agency, is going to be more true now than ever as different agencies and systems, uh, look to different fueling sources for their future, and I think the OEMs, we've had an OEM crisis in this country where a year or so ago we had five manufacturers of buses, now we have two or three, and so we need to make sure that we keep that industry healthy.

The second thing is funding, right? If, um, if, The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and, uh, and operating dollars coming from Washington and or Ottawa are going to be reduced in the future. How are we going to make up that funding? Is it going to be on fares, which is the third part, or what? Most transit agencies now, I think, have come down on the side of, you know, we're going to charge fares and we're going to enforce fares.

We're not going to allow there to be as much fare, um, uh, people avoiding fares and jumping the gun. The fare gates and all that stuff because we need money. We need more money, not less money. And when you do surveys of people and you ask them, Hey, why aren't you riding transit? The cost of it always comes down to fourth or fifth and surveys. The first is right safety, right? How safe am I feeling? How frequent is the service, right? Is it efficient?

Those, those kinds of things that people want to see, that's what will attract people. And so. And that's kind of where I think it all ends up, Julie. For the new year, it's right back to what I've been saying for the last 10 years since I took over the job at MTA. There are four cornerstones of successful transit is safety, efficiency, reliability, and world class customer service. And if we focus our agencies on those four cornerstones, we will build a better future for our industry.

One that everyone can see the value in.

Well, I want to take a moment just to thank everyone who works on our shows every day of the year. We have a really great team, so thank you, Paul. Thank you to Jaime, our videographer for Transit Unplugged TV. He's also a composer, so a lot of that music is original music from Jaime. Many thanks to Tris Hussey, who is the blog and podcast manager. He edits the shows. He's very passionate about it. Tatiana handles all our social media. Tris. So we're just very blessed. We have a great team.

Paul, as we wrap up this end of the year episode, the holiday episode, what would you like to say to your audience as we wrap up the year? Yeah, I would say, what I want to say to our audience is, hey man, thanks for being part of our community. This really has become a community everywhere I go. At these conferences, I, a lot of people come up to me and say how much they love the show, how much they love the posts that I do on LinkedIn.

Uh, I have 25, 000 followers there, and I try to post every day something interesting about our industry. I'm sure most of our listeners follow me already, but if you don't, I encourage you to. Let's connect up there. And, and then I would encourage you to share it. Uh, share the podcast with someone else you think could benefit from it.

They may not be a transit nerd like a lot of our listeners are, maybe not even in middle management like a lot of our listeners are, but somebody from city government who'd be, who'd be, who'd benefit from learning from transit leaders who we interview. Or maybe the, the boss, your boss at work, say, Hey, have you ever listened to this podcast? Let's grow the impact and the influence of this podcast in 2025 to be bigger and better than ever. Believe me, we need this show.

In 2025, now more than ever, and you can help us take the show to the next level. Thank you for all you do for the industry, Paul. You are doing such a great job of just making people feel connected and giving us all a voice and helping us lift the industry up and making sure that we can advocate for our communities and make sure people have mobility where they live. So thank you for all you do. Any final words as we yeah, let me say one or two more things. First off, I want to thank you, Julie.

You've been an amazing, uh, partner in this enterprise over the last few years, and it continues to get better and better. Your, your expertise, your sunny atmosphere, your sunny spirit, uh, and, um, and your, emphasis on telling stories better, I think, has helped make me better in what I do and helped our whole, our whole operation go better. And I also want to thank the people that work in this company.

I mean, they invest a lot of money, hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel costs alone, to bring us around the world, and they're not getting any direct ROI. You know, there's no, I'm not out there selling software, but, uh, but they believe in this industry. The goal of Modaxo which is why I've been here longer, Julie, than I've worked anywhere else in my career, is that I am aligned personally with the goals of this company and the people that lead it.

And their goal is to help move a billion people, uh, by a set date in the future. And I want to be part of that, and what we're doing through our thought leadership and our connection with the C suite of all these transit agencies across the world, and sharing their best practices with each other. That's what it's all about.

Our life is making a difference, and this company, my boss, Rod Jones, and Teresa Domingo, and, and Bill, who heads up Modaxo, and all the people who are involved, um, are, are focused and emphasize that as well. They see the value in it for our industry, and that's why they're investing in it. So thank you to them as well, because without them signing the checks, none of this would happen. Great. Well, thank you, Paul. This is a fun show. Great year.

Looking forward to 2025. Thank you for tuning in to Transit Unplugged this week with our special look back at 2024 and look ahead at 2025 with Paul and our special guest host, Julie Gates. Hi, I'm Tris Hussey.

editor of the podcast, and coming up next week on New Year's Eve, a day early, we have transit futurist Rudy Salo talking with Paul about his vision for transit in 2025, which includes autonomous vehicles, EVs, and some funding challenges we haven't talked about yet on the show that you're going to find really interesting. Transit Unplugged is brought to you by Modaxo.

At Modaxo, we're passionate about moving the world's people, and at Transit Unplugged, we're passionate about telling those stories. So from all of us, to all of you, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and we'll see you right back here on New Year's Eve, and until then, ride safe, and ride happy.